1. When severance cast you adrift and bereavement assaulted you
We wept for you as we never wept for a kitten before

2. You were truly the companion during my lonely nights in bed
When she of the two veils and ear-rings departed

3. And you used to guard me from whatever harm
Came to me from you or was due to my own misstep

4. And you protected me like a lion guards his cub
And kills whoever dared approach it with slap and scratch

5. Had I known that a well would swallow me
Along with you, I'd have tied you up lest you fall

6. But the hands of fate are devastating
When they unleash the arrow of death—none can stop it

7. So what was it that I gained from you and what
Was it that I harvested from your strong, crushing grip?

8. And from the fair hue on your shirt after I saw you
Bartering justice and rule justly for me?

9. What good is it that I now eulogize you after I saw you
Bartering justice and rule justly for me?

10. You were but an embodiment of my luck which has waned
And, O transcriber, misspelled and miswritten with every letter!